Friday, June 25, 2010

I woke up at 5 am and decided to get pictures of the sunrise. When I passed his room, he was there at the veranda. I could not believe it. Leader awake at 5:20 am (that was the time when I passed his room). I did not expect him to be awake, with his history of having a hard time waking up. His two security guards were outside the room, chilling.

A friend informed me that there was a Korea soccer match at 2 am. So, it could be that he did not sleep yet and was still awake from watching the soccer match or he really just woke up early.

I passed by his room again at 7:20 am. He was still there with his very distinct voice, talking with his friends.

My family and I swam at the pool the whole morning. There were no signs of him the whole time. We left the resort at around 1:30. Before that we strolled around the resort but were not able to catch a glimpse of leader. At 1:00 pm, his companions had lunch at the Kilimanjaro restaurant but no leader. He was probably sleeping now after staying up late to watch the soccer match (only my guess).

I then deduced that he would be taking the midnight trip as he was still at the resort at 1:30 pm. His group was booked up to this day, June 23.

We, with other tsp fans here in Cebu, then planned to go see him off at the airport. I got there at 9 pm and the others got there at 8 pm. I am so grateful to leader. Because of him, I have new friends (Kimy, Richelle, Kristine, Danyelle, Sherry, Jubhe) whom I would never have any chance to meet if it were not for our love of him. I got to meet these friends through the blogs and internet. I also met in the airport two other tsp fan. They went there just to get a glimpse of leader. Nice meeting you, Sherry and Kitkat.

We positioned ourselves at the chairs facing the entrance so we can see him as he comes inside. At 10:00, there was still no sign of him. Finally, at around 10 plus, one of his bodyguards arrived. I informed the others. After awhile the dancers and make up artists came too. They stopped in front of us. We sat there just getting giddy at the thought that he is on the way. We sat the whole time, really quiet and trying to contain our excitement.

The dancers stood there just milling around. They even started doing some dance moves right there. A Korean guy in shorts came and the female Korean who met them when leader arrived came also. They facilitated the getting of tickets. They took the passports and tickets and brought inside the departure area. This took like an hour or so. The whole time, the dancers were just standing, talking, sitting and even dancing. One dancer did the ‘love ya’ dance moves. Another two did dance turns and so forth.

The group of course noticed us and I’m sure they knew that we were waiting for leader. I was especially feeling conscious because I was worried that some of them might recognize me from Plantation bay. I did see them so several times there. However, we did not disturb them and so I guess they did not mind us at all also.

This whole time, leader was inside the van parked outside the airport. Another tsp fan was there and she saw him inside the van. One of the security guards told her no pictures but it is okay to take a video. Sadly, her video was accidentally erased.

The sales ladies inside the airport started to get excited as they learned that leader was here and on his way. However, after a long time, he still did not come out.

At 12 plus, the dancer group went inside but leader still did not come out. We were getting worried if he might use a different entry. At this time, there were very little people left at the airport. Only two group of passengers and their family and friend were left and of course us. One of the passengers was a Korean. They also learned about leader and got excited.

Finally, we saw the airport guard asking people to move aside. We then knew he was coming. All of a sudden more people appeared. Just a second ago, the airport was very quiet and with very little people and suddenly people just appeared. Leader with Laura, 3 security guards (in black shirts and jeans) and a dancer came inside the airport. One security guard went ahead to part he crowd, while the other two stood beside leader. He wore the same shirt he did to the fan meeting in Manila minus the black vest. He was wearing shades again but his hair was just down without the ponytail. Everyone followed leader until he reached the entrance door of the departure area. People were taking pix and videos. People were also saying ‘I love you’, ‘oppa sarangheyo’, ‘leader’ and others.

Earlier, two of my new friends (Kim and Rich) prepared letters and gift for leader. They were wondering if he would take them. I told them that I am sure he will. As leader was walking up the stairs towards the departure area, he saw them holding out their gifts and letters. He really reached out and took them. See how nice he is. My friends were so kilig of course to have their letters personally received by leader. Go girls!

Inside the departure area, you can see from the video that leader really kept looking back at us, at the people who were there to say goodbye. He faced the crowd and waved and he even said ‘kamsamhamnida’. Before disappearing from view, he raised both hands and waved.

Goodbye leader. It was great meeting you. The whole experience feels so surreal but unforgettable.